morris



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

s. I. MORRIS. APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TUNNELS.

No. 498,855. Patented June 6, 1893.

air A r735 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A s. I. MORRIS. APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TUNNBLS.

Patented June 6, 1893.

[/V VE/VTOR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMEON I. MORRIS, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JASONW. WAIT, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TUNNELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,855, dated June 6,1893. Application filed February 13, 1893. Serial No.462,005. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIMEON I. MORRIS, acitizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, county of Ramsey, State of Minnesota, haveinvented a certain newand useful Improvement in Apparatus forBuildingTunnels; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object the production of an apparatus forbuilding tunnels, and is adapted more particularly for buildingrailwaytunnels, although it is not limited to such use.

The invention consists more particularly in the provision of a suitableshield adapted to cover and protect the advance end of the walls andarch (usually masonry) of the tunnel, and to protect also the workmenengagedin building the masonry, while at the same time it aids somewhatin the excavating.

The invention consists of the combination of appliances and deviceshereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a portion ofthetunnel and my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is an endview of the conveying apparatus.

In carrying out the invention A (Fig. l) is the completed arch of thetunnel, and A (Fig. 2) the walls.

0 represents a car carrying suitable conveving apparatus consisting ofthe endless chain 0 provided with buckets c and driven by the electricmotor 0 As this conveying apparatus is old and well known, and as I makeno claim to the use of the same, I will not further describe it.

The forward end of the car, or carriage, which supports the conveyingapparatus supports a shield D, which I will now describe. It is made upeither of asingle sheet of metal, or separate sheets so secured orfastened together as to make practically a continuous piece, and extends(see Fig. 2) from the base on one side to the base on the opposite sideof the tunnel as is shown by the dotted lines at D. The forward edge cl(Fig. 1) of this shield projects out somewhat at. the top beyond thesides. The forward edge of the shield is preferably sharpened, althoughthe small thickness of the metal would not make it necessary to sharpenthis forward edge. This shield is supported from the carriage by thebraces EE-E extending from the shield at various points to the crossbeam E the latter beingsupported from the truck axle by the uprights E-E Of course the particular manner of bracing and supporting the shieldfrom the car trucks is immaterial it being a matter of mechanical andengineering skill to provide the proper frame work.

Engaged to the interior of the shield, substantially at the middle ofits length, are three cylinders F-FF one at the top and one at eachside, substantially half way down the side. The piston and piston rodsof the cylinders may be operated either by steam, pneumatic, hydraulic,orother suitable fluid pressure.

I have illustrated a pump G connected to each cylinder by the pipe gwhereby by the operation of the pump the cylinder pistons may be forcedoutward.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen thatI have provided in the pipeleading to the cylinder E the valve 9 in the pipe leading to thecylinder F the valve g, and in the pipe leading to the cylinder F theValve 9 It will thus be seen that by shutting any one or more of thesevalves and opening the others the pressure may be directed to theparticular cylinder or cylinders desired.

H is what is technically termed the center. It is made of steel andextends from the top of one wall to the top of the other. By thiscenter, which may be raised and lowered as desired, the arch masonry issupported until the key stone is in place, but as this center forms thesubject matter of a concurrently pending applicationl will not furtherdescribe it.

I will now describe the operation. A suitable excavation is made instarting so that the track J can be laid on which to run the carsupporting the shield D, and if conveying apparatus such as I haveillustrated is used, the same car may be employed to support theconveying apparatus. The car is then run onto the track and the walls Aand arch masonry A built up into the shield for a distance of eightfeet, more or less, until the advance end of the masonry is adjacent tothe piston rods of the cylinders FFF Pressure is then brought upon thepistons of the cylinders by means of the pump G and the shield is forcedforward a distance corresponding with the length of the piston rod. Thepiston rod is then returned to its normal position and the masonry builtup to its end and so on until the entire tunnel is completed. It will beobserved that the shield is supported from the car 0 and the lattersupported from the track J on the bottom of the tunnel. Thus it will beseen that the grade of this road bed, or the bottom of the tunneldetermines the grade of the entire tunnel. Thus if care is taken in theestablishment of the grade'of this bottom portion the balance of thework will be regulated by the position of the shield. It will also beobserved that there is a pressure cylinder at the top and one at eachside, and that pressure can be exerted in each of the cylindersindependently. Thus by exerting pressure for a greater length of timeupon one side than upon the other the shield can be caused to curveinits direction and thus give any desired curve to the completed tunnel.

By this apparatus the workmen are always protected against a cavein ofthe earth,while the work of excavating is greatly facilitated. Again bythis apparatus only exactly enough earth is excavated to allow themasonry to be built. There is no waste excavation, and therefore timeand money are saved not only in excavating, but in conveying off theexcavated matter.

I would have it understood that while I have herein shown a hand pumpfor generating pressure for the cylinders, yet it is obvious that thepressure might be obtained from outside sources and be conveyed bysuitable pipes or suitable leverage pressure be used. So also while Ihave shown a particular form of conveying apparatus, yet any othersuitable apparatus might be employed for excavating and conveying theearth out of the tunnel.

Again WhileI have shown three pressure cylinders for forcing the shieldahead it is obvious that any desired number of cylinders might be usedto impart. the desired pressure to the shield.

What I claim is 1. The combination with the walls and archof a tunnel ofan open ended shield covering the top and sides only of the archoverlapping the advance end thereof, theforward edge of said shieldbeing in advance of the completed arch and means for forcing said shieldahead as the arch is advanced, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the completed Walls and arch of a tunnel of anopen ended shield having three sides only said shield being outside ofand overlapping the advance end of said arch and walls, the forward endof said shield being in advance of the forward end of the Walls andarch, said shield being supported from the bottom of the tunnel way, andmeans for forcing said shield ahead as the walls and arch are completed,substantially as described.

3. The combination withthe walls and arch of a tunnel of an open endedshield supported from a car on the bottom of the tunnel, the forward endof said shield being in advance of the forward end of the walls and archand the rear end of said shield overlapping the same, and means forexerting pressure between the shield and advance end of the walls andarch to cause the shield to move longitudinally with respect to thetunnel walls, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the tunnel walls and arch of an open endedshield having three sides only the advance edge of which isin advance ofthe forward end of the completed Walls and arch, and the rear edge ofwhich overlaps the said walls and arch, said shield provided with threeor more pressure cylinders adapted to exert apressure upon the advanceend of the shield and arch to move the shield, said cylinders located ateach side and the top of the shield and means for directing pressureinto each cylinder at will whereby the-shield maybe forced in thedesired direction, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the arch and walls of a tunnel of an open endedshield having three sides only for protecting the end of said arch andwalls, said shield overlapping the latter and the top of the advanceedge of the shield projecting beyond the base thereof, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combinationwith the arch and walls of a tunnel of an open endedshield having three sides only, said shield supported from a cartraveling upon the bottom of the tunnel way, said shield overlapping theadvance end of the tunnel walls and arch, means for forcing the shieldforward, and a carrier on the same car which supports the shield forconveying the material back into the tunnel way from the shield,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

SIMEON I. MORRIS. Witnesses:

WV. 11. CHAMBERLIN, FLORENCE KING.

